What Are the Best SIM Cards for Families in Germany? (2026)
The verdict for families
Buy MagentaMobil M at EUR 49.95 per month for 50 GB on the Telekom network. That is the anchor contract, not the whole answer: German family pricing works by hanging extra cards off one adult tariff, and Vodafone OneNumber Flex is EUR 5.99 a month. Price all of it against the plain alternative: four separate value-brand prepaid lines at EUR 8.99 for 25 GB each, EUR 35.96 per 28-day cycle, no contract and no credit check.
What the family route requires
GigaFamily's discounted partner cards need a Vodafone main contract, and the data is a shared pool rather than a per-card allowance, so one heavy user drains the household. O2's Plus-Option adds one free extra, a Partnerkarte SIM among them, only on Mobile L and above. Every line also needs its own identity check, so four lines means four: VideoIdent with any passport, 24/7. Prepaid needs no German address, no bank account and no SCHUFA.
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Which SIM plan is the best for families?
Sorted by effective monthly price, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
Sorted by price per gb, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
Sorted by coverage, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
Sorted by english support, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
Sorted by contract freedom, not our recommendation. The default view is our ranking, weights published below.
★ Family pick
MagentaMobil M
PlusKarte from 19.95 EUR makes every family card unlimited
Key information
- Contract
- 24-month contract
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Coverage
- Telekom network, its own
Plans(4)
- MagentaMobil PlusKarteUnlimited / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMSEUR 19.95
- MagentaMobil S30 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 1.33 per GBEUR 39.95
- MagentaMobil MOur pick here50 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 1.00 per GBEUR 49.95
- MagentaMobil L100 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.60 per GBEUR 59.95
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GBBest
- EUR 1.00
More details
- Physical network
- Telekom
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- monthly contract, 24-month minimum term
Best for families who want the most data per euro.
Also great
Vodafone Mobil M
GigaKombi and OneNumber Flex family features
Key information
- Contract
- 24-month contract
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Coverage
- Vodafone network, its own
Plans(4)
- DataGo L25 GB / per month · EUR 1.20 per GBEUR 29.99
- Vodafone Mobil MOur pick here100 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.50 per GBEUR 49.99
- Vodafone Mobil L120 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.50 per GBEUR 59.99
- Vodafone Mobil XLUnlimited / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMSEUR 79.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.50
More details
- Physical network
- Vodafone
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- monthly contract, 24-month minimum term
Best for families who need a different physical network.
Best value
O2 Mobile on Demand M
Plus-Option bundles a Partnerkarte or O2 TV
Key information
- Contract
- 24-month contract
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Coverage
- O2 network, its own
Plans(4)
- O2 my Prepaid S20 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.50 per GBEUR 9.99
- O2 my Prepaid M40 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.37 per GBEUR 14.99
- O2 Mobile on Demand MOur pick here50 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.40 per GBEUR 19.99
- O2 Mobile S15 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 1.33 per GBEUR 19.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.40
More details
- Physical network
- O2
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- monthly contract, 24-month minimum term
Best for families who need a different physical network.
1&1 All-Net-Flat 10 GB
Same best price from the first card, family-friendly pricing
Key information
- Contract
- 24-month contract
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Coverage
- 1&1 network, its own
Plans(4)
- 1&1 All-Net-Flat 10 GBOur pick here10 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 1.50 per GBEUR 14.99
- 1&1 All-Net-Flat 50 GB50 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.30 per GBEUR 14.99
- 1&1 All-Net-Flat 150 GB150 GB / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.13 per GBEUR 19.99
- 1&1 UnlimitedUnlimited / per month · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMSEUR 39.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 1.50
More details
- Physical network
- 1&1
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- monthly contract; 24-month term or monthly-cancellable variant
Best for families who need a different physical network.
fraenk 25 GB
Blocked premium numbers make it the default kids' tariff
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Signup
- Passport or ID check to activate
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.40
More details
- Physical network
- Telekom
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- calendar-month subscription, monthly cancellable
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Best for families who need a different physical network.
ALDI TALK Jahrespaket
Controlled-budget first phone for kids
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Coverage
- Runs on the O2 network
Plans(4)
- ALDI TALK JahrespaketOur pick here60 GB / per year · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.10 per GBEUR 5.83
- ALDI TALK S25 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.36 per GBEUR 8.99
- ALDI TALK M/L50 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.28 per GBEUR 13.99
- Aldi Daten Home&Go S150 GB / per 28 days · EUR 0.13 per GBEUR 19.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.10
More details
- Physical network
- O2
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- 365 days, 60 GB total at entry tier (~5.83 EUR/month equivalent); larger packs to 450 GB
Best for families who need a different physical network.
Lidl Connect Jahrestarif
Great controlled teen phone
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Support
- German-only support
Plans(2)
- Lidl Connect JahrestarifOur pick here250 GB / per year · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.04 per GBEUR 7.50
- Lidl Connect Smart S25 GB / per 28 days · Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS · EUR 0.36 per GBEUR 8.99
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.04
More details
- Physical network
- Vodafone
- eSIM
- Yes
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- 365 days, 250 GB total (~7.50 EUR/month equivalent); XS 62.99 EUR/60 GB, M 134.10 EUR/450 GB
Best for families who need a different physical network.
Tchibo Jahrespaket M
FLEX FAMILY gives 25% off from the third card
Key information
- Contract
- Prepaid, no lock-in
- Calls
- Unlimited minutes, Unlimited SMS
- Coverage
- Runs on the O2 network
- Price per GB
- EUR 0.04
More details
- Physical network
- O2
- eSIM
- Not offered
- ID to activate
- Passport or ID card
- Billing cycle
- 12 months, data credited monthly (18 GB/month; 99.99 EUR/year). S: 69.99 EUR/4 GB monthly; L: 149 EUR/32 GB monthly
Prices as of 17 August 2026, verify on the provider site.
Best for families who need a different physical network.
Also a strong fit
Same eligibility, a different shop or network. Every plan is in the full market overview.
Watch what the add-on actually shares. Vodafone OneNumber Flex gives every card the main tariff's quota rather than its own allowance, which is exactly the line a four-person household tends to read as four allowances. O2's free extra is bound to Mobile L and above, so the saving only arrives if you were buying the larger tariff anyway.
How we ranked this for families5 criteria, weights published
A reader we describe as families is not the average reader, so this page does not use the average weights. Ease of buying carries 10% here against 30% on the general ranking, and Price per GB carries 35% here against 25% on the general ranking. The weights were fixed on 17 August 2026, before the prices were collected.
Criteria weighting
Fixed 17 August 2026, before pricing was collectedWhat is ruled out, and why
A blocker is not a drawback. It is something that makes the product unbuyable for this reader, and it caps the score at 1.0 however good the tariff is otherwise.
What a family actually needs beyond the price
Decide the shape before the brand. German family pricing is add-on pricing: one adult contract carries the discount and the extra cards hang off it. Vodafone OneNumber Flex is EUR 5.99 a month, and GigaFamily adds discounted partner cards, but the data is a shared quota and not a per-card allowance, so one heavy user drains the household. It also requires a Vodafone main contract. O2's Plus-Option adds one free extra on Mobile L and above, with a Partnerkarte SIM among the choices, and Kombi-Vorteil discounts a second O2 contract. The exact Partnerkarte terms shift with promotions, so read them on the day.
The alternative is to share nothing. Four value-brand prepaid lines at EUR 8.99 for 25 GB each, with unlimited calls and SMS, cost EUR 35.96 per 28-day cycle. That is 13 renewals a year, about EUR 9.74 a month per line. Nothing is pooled, nothing is locked, and no line needs a credit check. Against that, MagentaMobil M is EUR 49.95 a month for 50 GB on a 24-month term with an EUR 39.95 connection fee, for one line.
One requirement applies to every line, however you buy. Each person's SIM needs its own identity verification, so four lines means four checks: VideoIdent with any passport, available 24/7, each activating minutes to hours later. Prepaid asks for no German address and no German bank account. The contract route asks for both, plus a SEPA direct debit and a SCHUFA credit check.
The same tariffs, ranked for other readers
View all 98 plansThe plan picker is the full market overview: every named tier from every provider with its allowance, price and EUR per GB, filterable by situation and re-rankable.Every persona page ranks the same catalogue. Only the weights differ, and each page states its own. If you are already down to two tariffs, the full market overview puts every named tier side by side on price, data and EUR per GB.
How we compared these
Five criteria, weighted for this reader and published above, fixed on 17 August 2026 before the prices were collected. Every price comes from the provider's own page, dated in the catalogue. A blocker caps a product at 1.0. Unlimited allowances are capped at 200 GB when calculating EUR per GB, or every unlimited plan would win that column automatically.
One limit worth stating: the catalogue carries one fit score per persona, not a score per criterion, so the ordering reflects that score and the editorial reasoning behind it rather than an arithmetic weighted total. Per-criterion scoring is the next data pass; until it lands, the weights explain the ranking rather than compute it.
Of the 98 plans in the catalogue, 26 score 4 or 5 for this reader, across 11 providers. Where fewer than three providers clear that line, the third card is still the next best option available and is labelled for what it wins on, not presented as a strong fit.
Sources: provider tariff pages and dated German price sources, accessed August 2026. Some links earn a commission at the same rate for every provider, so no weighting favours a payer.
Frequently asked questions
What is the cheapest way to get four mobile lines in Germany?
Four separate value-brand prepaid lines. ALDI TALK, Lidl Connect, Penny Mobil, ja! mobil, Kaufland mobil, NettoKOM and ROSSMANN mobil all sell 25 GB with unlimited calls and SMS for EUR 8.99 per 28-day cycle, so four lines cost EUR 35.96 a cycle with no contract and no credit check. Note the cycle: 28 days is 13 renewals a year, about EUR 9.74 a month per line.
How do German family mobile plans work?
As add-ons to one adult contract rather than as a family tariff of their own. Vodafone sells OneNumber Flex at EUR 5.99 a month and discounts partner cards through GigaFamily, on a shared data pool rather than a per-card allowance and with a Vodafone main contract required. O2's Plus-Option adds one free extra, including a Partnerkarte SIM, on Mobile L and above, and Kombi-Vorteil discounts a second O2 contract.
Does every family member need their own ID check for a German SIM?
Yes. Identity verification is required on every German SIM, prepaid and contract alike, so four lines means four checks. VideoIdent accepts any passport and runs 24 hours a day, and each line activates minutes to hours after its own check. Prepaid needs no German address and no German bank account; a contract needs both plus a SEPA direct debit and a SCHUFA credit check.